In the summer heat, swimsuits are an obvious choice. However all that outdoor activity has a downside: the fabrics used in swimwear are primarily synthetic materials –nylon, lycra, and polyesters, which fail to break down. It gets worse: manufacturing swimsuits produces waste — excess fabric that goes unused and trimmings to get the right shape.
A new company, led by 12 women, is challenging the swimwear industry to reduce its waste.
Orange County-based RAJ Swim has been manufacturing swimwear for national brands such as Reef, Athena Swimwear, and Next. With 50 years in the swimwear industry, they could be considered a stalwart. This summer, co-CEOs of RAJ Swim, Lisa Vogel and Alex Bhathal, decided to experiment, rethinking how they could tap into millennial sensibilities and build a more eco-conscious line of swimsuits. The duo allowed 12 millennial team members — notably all women– to build a new brand: VYB (pronounced as “vibe”). All the swimsuits for this proprietary brand would come from deadstock.
“I vividly remember Yvonne Macias, our assistant manager, pointing to the rolls of multi-colored deadstock fabric saying, ‘Why don’t we just use the fabric we already have?’ Instantly, we had that ‘aha moment’ and collectively, we decided deadstock would root VYB as a brand,” says Holly Harshman, the 29-year-old Marketing Director of VYB.
Read the full story at Forbes.com
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This looks to me like a case of “greenwashing”. Here, a big corporate is looking for a new marketing angle to get rid of their old stock – material that is bad for the environment.How? They are going to cut it up and sell it to people. A very creative way to get rid of a liability.
Thanks, Ben, appreciate your perspective. That’s how the needle is moved forward in the industry — discussion and debate.